Device for the tensioning and drying of garments

ABSTRACT

A device for the tensioning and drying of garments such as knit goods, particularly in the form of sweaters, pullovers and vests, includes a bust or torso portion conforming to the outline or contour of the body and including shoulder and neck portions of the garment. One or more sleeve-forming or similar attachments are adapted to be engaged through an opening of the garment such as at the sleeve and mounted in a simple manner on the bust portion. The attachments have projecting portions or recesses which interengage with complementary portions of the bust portion to anchor the attachments to the latter portion in adjusted position at which the attachments define contour extensions of the torso portion and provide a proper extension to support, block and tension corresponding parts of the garment to be dried in a stretched and like portion.

States Patent Wit/tire [151 li ehjlt [54] DEEWIICE F1011, THE TENSHQNEENG 1 1N101 @litiflihlfi 1011i [72] inventor: Annelliese Witahe, Calwer St. 3, Hirsau,

FOREEGN PATENTS OR APPLlC/t'llONS 887,725 1 H1943 France ..223/69 Primary Examiner-Patrick 1D. Lawson Assistant Examiner-George V. Larkin Attorney-liegan, l legan 1 lBerkman [5 7] ABSTRACT A device for the tensioning and drying of garments such as knit goods, particularly in the form of sweaters, pullovers and vests, includes a bust or torso portion conforming to the outline or contour of the body and including shoulder and neck portions of the garment. One or more sleeve-forming or similar attachments are adapted to be engaged through an opening of the garment such as at the sleeve and mounted in a simple manner on the bust portion. The attachments have projecting portions or recesses which interengage with complementary portions of the bust portion to anchor the at tachments to the latter portion in adjusted position at which the attachments define contour extensions of the torso portion and provide a proper extension to support, bloclr. and tension corresponding parts of the garment to be dried in a stretched and like portion.

13 (Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEUFEHZS I972 3,6d5A25 SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTOR N LIE W NZ K g/ l 1/ //////H AHorne-W Pmimwrzaw r972 36% A25 saw 2 BF 2 HNVENTURI ANNEIJESEWUZIAE Awomwys lll h l ll llh Tllllh Tlfihlhll lllhlll ltl ll l flfi l l hl t i l? lll-llhlllllltlllb llfh Ellhtllhlrhlll (ll THE lhWlEhlTllZll l The invention relates, in general, to textile material tension ing devices and, in particular, to a new and useful device for the tensioning, and like treatment of garments particularly knit goods such as pullovers, vests or the like.

in particular with pullovers, cardigans, knit vests or the like, it is found to be necessary to block these garments after washing in a predetermined position such that during the following drying operation the garment does not lose its form, for example, by shrinkage or overextension, lor this reason it has long been known practice to attach knit or woven goods in the moist state on an absorbent support, as for eirample a cloth spread on a table or on a couch or other upholstered furniture, by means of pins, and to dry them in this manner. This not only requires some experience in the pinning of the moist gar ment on its support, to bring it into a predetermined shape, but it also entails considerable effort and expenditure of time, which, particularly when large numbers of such garments are washed and dried, requires a considerable number of skilled personnel to do the pinning, and therefore greatly increases; the cost.

For this reason, the method has been adopted to lay such garments after washing, in the moist state, simply on an absor bent support that can be rolled up, as for example a blanket, and to roll up both parts together, possibly after the garment has been pulled straight once more. it is true that the garment is then maintained fixed to a certain degree by the static friction occurring at the contact faces between garment and support. However, this method is not suitable when, for example, due to an overly hot washing the knit or woven material becomes so warped and felted that the internal tensions in the knit or woven product are greater than the static friction. in addition, this method is not suitable for drying a large number of such garments, as it requires great attention to prevent the garment from shifting or contracting during the rolling up.

Experience shows that garments which have been dried by one or the other of the methods described must, after the dry ing, be steamed once more by application of moist heat between two flat surfaces, in order to bring them into their final form. Moreover, both methods require considerable space, since for the first method the garments must lie approx' imately horizontal during the entire drying operation; and must lie approximately horizontal, in the othe known method, at least during the spreading and laying out on the support. in addition, the placing of the rolls requires a great amount of space and involves the further inconvenience that when a certain garment is to be detached from its rolled-up support after completed drying, the additional rolls lying on top of this roll must first be rearranged if, to economize space, the individual rolls are stacked and one of the lower rolls is to be taken out.

lt is further known practice to hang knit goods such as pullovers, vests and the like in the moist state on a specially designed hanger. Such a hanger consists, for example, of a plastic envelope of cushion form, inflated to a hook similar to a garment hanger. The moist garment is hung over the cushion just as if this cushion were a clothes hanger. With another known method of drying, the knit goods are simply hung on a normal clothes hanger and the contours of the hanger frame impress themselves into the moist knit or woven product and remain therein after completed drying. This method of drying knit goods after washing involves the serious disadvantage that due to the water running down in the knit or woven product by gravity, there results a most unfavorable load distribution on the hanging garment. ln fact, the areas of the knit or woven product bearing against the cushion part of this known drying hanger are stressed not according to the load function known from mechanics for a hanging rod or known cross section. in addition to this load function, which corresponds to a growth function, there is superimposed during the drying of knit goods of "it: kind described, an additional growth function length of the the lower or of the garment 2. areas of the knit or woven prodt hanger are stretched and lengthened particularly stro the weight to be absorbed by them. Also, there is a t of this garment over its entire length, which results trom two superimposed load functions which depend on the length coordinate, the weight of the woven or knit product, the material properties thereof, as well as the in time of the moisture content in the l it has been found th t the drying of knit or woven 'iotls on such cushion-type drying han' c 0 gives unsatisfi for other reasons. in fact, with this manner oldry ,3 s the previously described drying methods, it is always in cssary, after the actual drying operation, to effect a steaming of the garment to bring it into an attractive flat form which corresponds to the form it had in the original factory-now state. The disadvantages of the known drying methods are articularly noticeable when the knit or woven garments have been produced in the usual modern manufacturing manner, where from the knit or woven yardage the individual cut parts for the garment are cut out by machine without consideration of the principal directions of tension of the knit or woven material, looped off at the same time, and then sewn together.

The problem underlying the invention is to provide a device by means of which the disadvantages of the known drying methods can be avoided in a simple, timcsaving and inexpensive manner, and which does away with a lengthy fixation of the moist h it and yet furni :s a result end product always presenting the same form in the dried state in an ever constant manner. The method of the invention pro vides a form corresponding to its finished original factoryntew form subsequent to steaming and the device for carrying this out is not only inexpensive but also capable of b. operated with ever constant success even by unskilled and incuperienced personnel.

The device according to the invention for the tensioning and drying of garments or the like, in particular, of knit goods such as pullovers, vest or the like, is characterized by a leaf type torso and like portion with an attachment designed as filling for the neckline of the workpieces to be treated and a contour shape adjacent to one of the two sides thereof, corresponding approximately to the shoulder form of the workpi to be treated. lltpproximatcly at the end opposite to the attachment of the torso portion, leaf-type sleeve portions are lirtable by fastening means. The sleeve portions form a con tour corresponding to the contour of the bust portion adjacent to the attachment and permit lengthening of the contour and a stiffening of the sleeve of the workpiece to be treated.

The device, according to the invention, is simply inserted into the tubular workpiece to be treated, namely the moist knitted or woven garment, from below, between the knit or woven portion forming the front and back of the garment, and due to its fixed existing contour shape which applies against the junction or seams of the knit or woven parts forming the front and back of the garment, insures that the workpiece presents the same contour shape after drying. it is always insured that, without additional steaming, the treated workpieces present a predetermined form, which in the largest measure corresponds to the form which they had in their fac tory-new state,

in a development of the invention, there may be provided, at least at the torso portion, a device for retaining or hugging the workpiece to be treated. Thereby, the workpiece to be treated or respectively the garment to be dried and at the same time tensioned is deprived of even the last possibility of an undesirable longitudinal contraction or longitudinal extension. This is so because the device for firing the garment is held fixed at least at the torso po tion of e device according to the invention in relation thcr An embodiment of this inventive idea particularly includes a device for hugging or fixing the workpiece to be treated which engages at least one strip of projections engaging the woven or knit fabric of the workpiece to be treated and interlocking therewith, for example, a so-called bur strip. Such strip device for fixing the workpiece may advantageously be arranged at the end of the torso portion and/or sleeve portions remote from the attachment of the torso portion. This strip device hereinafter sometimes called bur device may be arranged on both surfaces of the leaf-type material of the torso portion and/or the sleeve portions. The aforesaid strip may extend approximately along the center with respect to the lateral contour of the torso portion and may consist of projections engaging in the woven or knit fabric of the workpiece to be treated and interlocking therewith, for example, a so-called bur strip. Thus in an economical manner the garments are maintained in position during the drying operation so that these can no longer become distorted or stretched in an undesirable manner, and this desirable effect is preserved in the case of other garments much more difficult to block and to dry, as for example, cardigans, even when these are stored during drying in a hanging state.

In a further development of the invention, the sleeve portions of the device may be designed as loose (separate) parts which by means are so fixable at the torso portion that in the operational state they can execute neither a rotary movement parallel to their material plane nor a movement normal thereto. The torso portion may present a recess with at least one approximately hook-shaped prolongation, into which a correspondingly designed area of the correlated sleeve portion with at least one correspondingly designed hook-shaped prolongation is so insertable that the hook-shaped projections of both portions engage one behind the other in the manner of an interlock and are locked by a pin to be passed through eyelets at the torso portion and at the sleeve portions. According to the invention, there may be provided a bayonet lock as a fastening device for each sleeve portion.

A further development of the invention is characterized in that the torso portion at the point of engagement for the sleeve portions, two guide grooves offset in stepped form are provided, into which a guide pin having a head of larger diameter than the groove width is insertable in such a way that the sleeve and bust portions are movable relatively to each other only by translatory presenting a bayonet lock has also proved very advantageous. it is characterized in that the torso portion presents at the point of engagement forthe sleeve portions two guide grooves, of which one has approximately the form of the letter F lying in the plane of the torso portion with downwardly pointing cross bars, and the other partially the form of an arc of a circle extending about a pivotal point removed upwardly from the lower edge of the smaller cross bar of the form of letter F by one half the cross bar width. The end of the inwardly directed arc-shaped section of the guide groove is continued into a portion corresponding to the portion of the first guide groove extending inwardly counted from the pivot point of the first guide groove. Into these guide grooves, a guide pin with a head of greater diameter than the groove width can be introduced in such a way that sleeve portion and torso portion are, on the first zone of their relative movement, diplaceable by translatory movement relatively to each other into a position in which the guide pin of the first guide groove occupies its pivotal point. In the second zone, they are then pivotal relatively to each other into a position in which the guide pin of the second guide groove comes to lie in the inner end of the arc section of the second guide groove. Finally, in the third zone, they can be brought by translatory movement relatively to each other into a position in which both guide pins abut on the end of the guide groove assigned to them.

Another form of construction, equivalent to this form of the invention, is characterized in that the torso portion presents at the point of engagement for the sleeve portions two guide grooves, one of which has approximately the form of a T lying in the plane of the bust portion with crossbar pointing upward and downward. The other is partially in the form of an arc of a circle extending about a pivot point removed from the upper edge of the upper crossbar end of the T by half the crossbar width downwardly. The inwardly directed end of the arcshaped section of the guide groove is continued into a portion corresponding to the crossbar portion of the first guide groove extending downwardly from the pivot point of the first guide groove. A guide pin with a head of greater diameter than the groove width is insertable into the guide grooves in such a way that the sleeve portion and torso portion are displaceable, in the first zone of their relative movement, by translatory movement relatively to each other into a position in which the guide pin of the first guide groove occupies its pivot point. In the second zone, they are then pivotal relatively to each other into a position in which the guide pin of the second guide groove comes to lie at the inner end of the arc section of the second guide groove. Finally, in the third zone they can be brought by translatory movement relatively to each other into a position in which both guide pins abut against the end of the guide groove assigned to them.

Generally the sleeve portions are independent of the torso portion and are fixed to the latter portion by fastening means, such as snap buttons.

The forms of the invention with sleeve portions independent of the torso portion to be fixed on the latter for making the device according to the invention operable offer the possibility of equipping the device with a set of differently contoured sleeve portions, so that garments with long as well as with short sleeves can be treated with the same device.

In some cases, it may be advantageous, however, if the sleeve portions are connected pivotally with the torso portion and are lockable in relation to that portion to assume working position. In such embodiment of the invention sleeve portions which are thus retained on the torso portion and brought into working position assume a plane parallel to the plane of the bust portion as by pivoting. This results in a particularly advantageous construction since the pivot connection presents a bolt passing through a hole in one of the portions to be connected and arranged fixed at the other portion to be connected perpendicular to the plane thereof. The bolt has a head of greater diameter than the diameter of the hole. This bolt may advantageously be a plastic rivet. Or a snap button may be used as a bolt, one part of which, namely the male or the female part, has a head of greater diameter than its shank or respectively the pass hole provided for it.

Further, it may be advantageous that for adaptation to dif ferent sizes and forms of workpieces to be treated the torso portion consists of sections displaceable relatively to each other in the direction of the attachment which fills out the neckline of the workpieces to be treated and in an opposite direction and fixable in different working positions and/or displaceable relatively to each other in the direction crosswise to these directions and fixable in different working positions. The mutually displaceable sections may present tongues, so arranged that the tongue of one section can be moved to coincide with a torque of the other section, one of which presents a number of snap button female parts and the other at least one snap button male part which can be brought into active connection with the female parts.

The various combination of features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. I is a plan view of two examples of construction of a device for treating garments constructed in accordance with the invention:

FIG. la is a cross section taken along line AA of FIG. 1.

FIG. lb is a cross section taken along line 8-43 of PEG. 1;

FIGS. 2'. to t are views similar to HQ. 1 of other embodiments of the invention;

H6. 5 is a section along line V-V of HG. t through one of the snap buttons of the fastening device shown on the left side of the bust portion;

H6. 6 is a section along line Vl--VI of FIG. 4 through one of the snap buttons of the fastening device shown on the right side of the bust portion; and

H65. '7 and ii are views similar to FIG. ll of other embodiments of the invention.

The construction pursuant to the invention shown in FIG. ll consists of a torso portion 1 which is stamped or cut from plastic material in sheet form. This portion 1 presents an extension formed to indicate the neckline of the garment, such as a pullover, vest or the like to be treated, blocked and dried and simultaneously tensioned, and is defined by a con tour shape 1' or respectively ll" adjacent to one of the two sides thereof and approximately corresponding to the shoulder form of workpieces to be treated To the extension or attachment 25 there is fastened in any known manner, for example, by riveting, a hook known per se, designed as a suspension hook.

in the example in the left half of FIG. ll, the torso portion l is provided with a recess having two hook-shaped prolongations or projections la. A sleeve portion 2 is stamped or cut from leaf-type plastic material, which is defined by a contour 2' adjacent to the shoulder contour ll of the torso portion i when in operative location. The sleeve 2 has a zone with two hoolcshaped prolongations 2a which fit into corresponding recesses in of the torso portion l and may be interlocked therewith. At least on one common side of the hook-shaped prolongations 2a and recesses la there are formed eyelets lb, 2b through which a pin 3 indicated only by its dashdot median line is adapted to be passed. The pin 3 adjusts and determines the sleeve portion 2 in operative location on torso portion i so that in the operative state the sleeve portion 2 can perform neither a rotary movement parallel to its plane or relatively the material plane of the torso portion 1, nor a movement normal thereto.

The sleeve portion 2 of the example of the invention shown in the right half of HG. ii, is designed similar to that of the left half, and is also correlated torso portion ll. Only the device for setting and fastening the sleeve portion 2 to the torso portion l is different. Prolongations or projections to of the torso portion ll may take up joint bolts 5 pivotal about a respective pivot pin 5a. The sleeve portion 2 is introduced into the recess of the torso portion .l, after the bolts 5 of the one side have been brought into horizontal position, and after introduction of the sleeve portion 2 into this recess, the bolts 5 are then pivoted back into the position shown in FIG. l, or respective ly, return to this position automatically when the material plane of the torso portion l and of sleeve portion 2 is brought into vertical direction. The bolts 5 may alternatively be arranged at the hook-shaped prolongations 2a of the sleeve portion.

The sleeve portions of the examples of HG. 1 present bur strips or attaching pieces 26 arranged on the end away from the attachment 25 of the bust portion l, which are fastened to the sleeve portion 2 in any known manner, for example, by gluing on or welding on. Also, on the bust portion ll, two bur strips 27 are similarly arranged on the end thereof away from the attachment 25.

The mode of operation of the device, according to the invention, will now be explained by way of example with reference to a pullover. into the still moist pullover, the torso portion l is inserted from the opening thereof intended for the wearers abdomen, far enough that the shoulder contour edge 1', l thereof abuts against the shoulder portions of the pullover. Then the sleeve portions are introduced through the sleeves ofthe pullover and placed in the correlated recesses la of the torso portion l and fixed by means of the pin 3 or by reversing the orientation of the bolt 5. By gentle tapping ofthe pullover in the zone of the bur strips 26 and 27, which may be arranged alternatively on both lateral faces of the sleeve portions 2 or respectively of the torso portion l, the pullover is fixed on the treatment device according to the invention in its areas most endangered by the moisture collecting there when drying occurs in vertical and suspended position. Now the device according to the invention together with the moist pul lover fixed on it can be hung like a dry garment on a storage or transport device, for example, on a known clothes rack. The drying requires a minimum of space, it being insured, however, that in the dry state, the pullover always possesses a form given by the contour shapes of torso portion l and sleeve portions 2. it should be remarked that portion l as well m the sleeve portions 2 may present a contour shape other than shown. Further, instead of the sleeve portions as shown which are intended for short pullover sleeves, other sleeve shape portions may be used with contour shapes intended for long sleeves.

in the embodiment of the invention represented in lFlG. Ill, the oust portion liltl is designed similarly to the correspondin part as in MG. l, but it does not present recesses into which the sleeve portions are insertahle and attachahlc. instead of these recesses, the torso portion 11 of this example presents two guide grooves d, 8 offset in stepped form, of which there is shown on the right side of iFlG. 2 the guide groove ll in solid line, since the area of the right sleeve portion 2c, which actually covers it, is broken away and indicated only by its outer contour shown in dash-dot lines. Further, the torso portion tilt) of this example differs from the torso portion ll of HG. l in that it presents at its end away from the attachment 25 only a single wide horizontal bur strip 2-7. In addition, a band-type central vertical bur strip 2h is provided on the torso portion lltlil. The latter may be arranged on one or both top surfaces of the torso portion will.

With respect to their outer contour shape, the sleeve portions 2c correspond to the sleeve portions 2 of FM]. l, but in their zone which comes to lie over the bust portion itlil they present a different contour shape El represented only diagrammatically in HQ. 2. This may alternatively extend in another suitable manner.

At the sleeve portion 2c, in suitable mutual correlation, there are arranged two guide pins or projections i, d made of plastic which present a shank having a diameter corresponding approximately to the groove width of the guide grooves 6 and t3 and of the bust portion lll'll. At their end away from the sleeve portion 20, the pins 7 and 9 have a head of greater diameter than the shank diameter and the width of the correlated guide grooves s and d.

The use of the device of the invention according to this example of construction is as follows: The bust portion lllillii is in troduced into the tubular body formed by the wet pullover in the manner explained in connection with FlG. l. in like manner, the sleeve portions 2c are introduced into the sleeve openings of the pullover in the manner also described in connection with the explanation of HG. l. The shanks of the guide pins '7 and 9 are engaged in the respective recesses ti and ii. By translatory movement downwardly, the sleeve portion 220 is shifted in relation to the bust portion llllll so that its guide pin 7 enters the guide groove ti first. When the shank of guide pin 7 has reached the lower end of the guide groove ti, the shank of the guide pin l comes to lie in front of the inlet opening of the guide groove lBy horizontal displacement of the sleeve portion 2c then taking place in relation to the bust portion will, the guide pin 9 is introduced into the guide groove d correlated with it and at the same time the guide pin 7 is displaced horizontally in the guide groove s correlated with it. After reaching the ends of the equally long horizontally zones of the guide grooves 6, ii, the sleeve portion 20 is displaced again in vertical direction relatively to the bust portion lhtl, whereby the guide pine '7, 9 come to abut at the ends of the guide grooves s, correlated to them and the sleeve portion 2c has reached its working position, in which it is held secured against pivoting relatively to the bus portion, since the shank length of the guide pins "7, 9 correspond to the material thickness of the bust portion llllil except for an appropriate tolerance.

The path of the guide grooves 6, 8 forming part of the bayonet lock is represented in FIG. 2 only as an example and may be selected in any other way, for example, so that the zone of the guide grooves located inwardly and branching off from the approximately horizontal zone of the guide grooves 6, 8 branches off upwardly from the horizontally extending zone. The individual zones of the guide grooves 6, 8 need not be at right angles to each other and, moreover, need not extend parallel or respectively at right angles to the central axis of the bust portion I043. It is merely necessary that the first zone of the guide groove 6 extend parallel to the outer lateral contour shape I of the bust portion 100 and that the following zones of the guide groove 6 extend parallel to the outer lateral contour shape 1' of the bust portion I and that the following zones of the guide groove 45 extend parallel to the zone of the guide groove 8.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the hanger 4 of FIG. I has been omitted for simpler representation, as the device according to the invention may alternatively be formed without such a hanger or with any desired known other retention element. Further, purely by way of example, the sleeve portions 20 do not present bur strips, although these may be provided in the same manner as in the examples according to FIG. 1 or in some other way.

In FIG. 3, there are represented again two further preferred examples of the invention. Common to both is a torso portion MP2 which presents an outer contour shape similar to the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2. Formed on the attachment 25 of the torso portion I02, there is a suspension hook I8 which, as illustrated, may have a reinforcement bead or crease 18a. Also, the sleeve portions 2d, 22 correspond with respect to their ex posed contour to the sleeve portions 2 and 20 as in FIGS. I and 2, respectively. To illustrate the fact that in their zone covering the torso portion 102, the sleeve portions 2d, 2e of both examples as in FIG. 3,just as the sleeve portions 2c as per FIG. 2, may present an outer contour shape to be selected at will as may be appropriate, there are shown in FIG. 3, different contour shapes of the zone of the sleeve portions 2d, 2e covering the torso portion.

Also, in the designs according to FIG. 3, there are provided bayonet looks as devices for the fastening of the sleeve portions 2d, 2e to the torso portion I02. These bayonet locks include two guide grooves I0, I2, and I4, 16, respectively, as well as two guide pins II, I3 and I5, I7, respectively. These guide pins II, 13 and 15, I7 are designed in the same manner as the guide pins 7, 9 as in FIG. 2 and differ from these only in their arrangement at the correlated sleeve portion 2d, 22, which results due to the contour shape of the correlated guide grooves III, I2 and M, In of the torso portion I02. While in the example represented on the right side of FIG. 3, just as in the example in FIG. 2, the sleeve portion 2e is shown in its operative position, the left side of FIG. 3 shows the sleeve portion 21:! of this example in an intermediate position before it reaches its operative position.

The guide groove I2 of the example of the left half as per FIG. 3 presents the form of a capital letter F lying in the plane of the torso portion 102 with downwardly pointing Crossbars, of which the longer one, located toward the inside, is marked I2, while the other guide groove I0 presents six zones, of which the first corresponds to the external zone of the guide groove 12 adjacent to the inlet opening, the second, to the smaller, downward pointing crossbar of the guide groove I2, the third, to an arc of circle about a pivot point removed upward from the lower edge of the smaller crossbar of the guide groove I2 by one half the crossbar width, the forth, again to the smaller crossbar of the guide groove I2, the fifth, to the zone between the smaller and the larger crossbars of the guide groove I2, and the last zone 10, to the internal larger crossbar 12' of the guide groove I2.

The torso portion 102 and sleeve portions 2d are introduced in the manner described before into the moist tubular pullover structure, and the sleeve portion M is introduced with its guide pins 11, I3 at the same time into the inlet openings of the correlated guide grooves I0, I2 and shifted therein to the (W an end of the respective second zones. Thereafter, the sleeve portion 2d is so pivoted about the central axis of the guide pin I3 that the guide pin it in the third zone of the guide It? slides to the position represented on the left of FIG. 3, Then the sleeve portion 2a is displaced by a sufficient amount relatively to the bust portion I downwardly, thereupon toward the center of the bust portion and subsequently again upwardly, until the guide pins II, I3 abut against the ends of the inner zones I0, I2 of the guide pins It), I2 correlated to them and thus the operative position of the sleeve portion 2d at the torso portion I02 is reached.

In the example of the right half of FIG. 3, the guide groove 16 presents the form of a T lying in the plane of the torso portion ms with upwardly and downwardly pointing crossbar I6, while the other guide groove M presents four zones, of which the first corresponds to the zone of the guide groove in adjacent to the inlet opening, the second, to the upper crossbar end of the guide groove It's, the third, to an arc of circle about a pivot point removed downwardly from the upper edge of the upper crossbar and of the guide groove In by half the crossbar width, and the last internal zone I i, to the total crossbar length of the guide groove I6. The operation of introducing and bringing into operative position of the sleeve portions 2e is effected similarly as described in connection with the example of the left half of FIG. 3 by displacement, pivoting, and again displacement of the sleeve portion 2c in relation to the torso portion 1192, until the sleeve portion 2e has reached its operative position represented in the right half of FIG 3, in which it is held secured against unintentional pivoting.

In the further embodiments of the invention shown in the left and right halves of FIG. i, the sleeve portions 2f are held at the torso portion 1633 by means of snap buttons I9, 20. These may be provided in the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 4 or in some other arrangement. The two examples differ only in the configuration of the snap buttons I9, 20.

In FIG. 5, the snap button used in the example of the left half of FIG. 4 is shown in greater detail. its female part We is designed as a plastic hollow rivet which engages through a correspondingly designed hole in the torso portion m3 and embraces it on both sides with its annular flanges At suitable points, the sleeve portions 2f present pass holes for the snap button male parts 1% having a diameter which corresponds to the shank diameter ll9b of the snap button male part except for a sufficient tolerance. Into these pass holes 29, after the sleeve portions 2f have been placed on the torso part Hi3, the snap button male parts I917 are inserted from the side away from the torso portion I03 and are snapped into the correlated female part by their end 11%. Thus, a fixing connection for the sleeve portions 2f on the torso portion Iii} affords a fast and easy operation and is simple and inexpensive. The form of construction, illustrated in FIG. 5, of a snap button I9 consisting of a male part having a shank 19b and a head I90 of greater diameter, of plastic material, and a female part I90 designed as a plastic hollow rivet, is particularly well suited as guide pins 7, 8, II, 13, I5 and I7, respectively, for the forms of construction as in FIGS. 2 and 3. When using a snap button 19, as in FIG. 5, there results the additional advantage that the annular flange 19c between portions 2f and I03 exerts a certain spring force between the two portions and strives to push them apart, whereby portion 2f is pressed against the male part head I911 and the frictional contact between the sleeve portion 2f and torso portion 103 is considerably increased in a desirable manner.

In the snap button 2th shown in FIG. 6, the male part Ziia as well as the female part 20!) are constructed as plastic parts and fastened on mutually facing sides of the sleeve portions 2f and of the bust portion I by welding, gluing or in other suitable manners.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, the torso portion HIM includes six sections 3.0, Id, lie, llf, lg, Ih. These sections present, at the correlated edges, tongues 21 which can be brought into coincidence with one another. The tongues 21,

for example, of each section 1c, 12 and lid, llfpresent a plurality of snap button male parts arranged in a row one behind the other, and which fit the female parts of the section 110 and together with it form snap buttons 22. Accordingly, the tongues 21 of sections If and llg present a plurality of snap button female parts arranged in a row and the tongues Zll of section lift at least one, but in the illustrated example two, snap button male parts. All female and male parts are arranged on the correlated tongues 21 of the correlated sections 1c, ild, le, If, lg, 1h in a suitable manner not evident from the purely diagrammatic representation of FIG. 7, in such manner that for adaptation to different sizes and forms of the garments to be dried and tensioned the sections llc, ld, lie, llf, lg, llh are so displaceable relatively to each other and fixable in the different working positions by means of the snap buttons 22 that the torso portion NM can be varied with respect to its width and/or length and adapted to different sizes of the garment to be treated. Any known snap buttons may be used, but it has been found advantageous to use snap buttons of the kind described in connection with FIGS. and 6.

The example of construction as in FIG. 8 differs from the example as in FIG. 4 with snap buttons 19, designed as in FIGS. 5 or 6 only in that the torso portion 1105 as well as the sleeve portions 2f have holes 23, 24 to reduce their weight and to achieve air circulation during the drying of the moist garment arranged on the device of the invention, which holes may be provided in any desired other suitable arrangement differing from the arrangement shown in FIG. 8.

For the sake of simplicity, in the examples as in FIGS. 3, 4i, 7 and 8, there are shown neither at the torso portions 102, 103, I04 and 105 nor at the sleeve portions 2d, 2, 2f bur strips or other devices for fixing the garment to be treated. They may be provided in the same or in some other mannerjust as in the examples as in FIGS. 1 and 2. The blanks for the torso portion 1 or, respectively, the sections 1c to llh thereof and the sleeve portions 2, 2c to 2f are stamped in one common operation from plastic material in sheet form, but other materials may also be used, such as wood, pressboard plates, metal with or without plastic coating, and the individual parts of the devices of the invention may alternatively be produced in operations independent of each other.

What is claimed is:

l. A portable device for tensioning, blocking, drying and like treating garments, such as tubular knit goods in the form of pullover, sweaters, vests and the like; comprising a torso body portion having a neck and shoulder portions determining an outer contour extending from the neck to the shoulder por tions and constructed for insertion into the tubular garment to be treated, at least one sleeve portion defined by a contour edge alignable with the contour of one of the shoulder portions and positionable relative to said torso body portion, in terengageable means, respectively, joined with said torso portion and with said sleeve portion facilitating adjustable en gagement of said sleeve portion with said torso portion, and anchoring means coacting with said interengageable means to ensure selected position of said sleeve portion in relation to said shoulder portion after insertion of all said portions into said tubular garment for the adjusted engagement of said portions thereby to conform said device to the shape of said garment.

2. A device according to claim 1, including retaining means incorporated in at least one of the surfaces of said portions for maintaining said garment in supporting condition on said torso portion, said shoulder and sleeve portions.

3. A device according to claim I, wherein said retaining means for the garment comprises at least one band having a relatively rough surface adapted to engage the corresponding inner surface of said garment.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein said band em braces said torso portion adjacent the lower end thereof.

5. A device according to claim 3, wherein said band extends around said sleeve portion adjacent one extremity thereof.

6. A device according to claim 3, wherein said band encircles said sleeve portion adjacent one outer end thereof and is provided with means adapted to frictionally engage and effectuate a firm hold of the garment, and at least one further band extending around said torso portion adjacent the lower end thereof for securing the garment on said portions in treatment position.

7. A device according to claim ll, said interengageable means comprising a plurality of grooves provided on said torso portion, said sleeve portion being provided with offset bolt means having an enlarged head at one extremity, said bolt means being engageable in respective grooves of said torso portion and being slidable relative thereto to effectuate alignment of the contour of said sleeve portion with the contour of said torso portion.

3. A device according to claim 7, each of said grooves including a horizontally extending groove portion and a connecting groove portion depending therefrom, said bolt being slidable along said horizontal groove portions and then along said connecting groove portion, and means to lock said bolts and said sleeve portion in respect to said torso portion.

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein said interengageble means comprises first and second preshaped recesses defined on said torso portion, said first recess including a horizontally extending recess portion and a connecting recess portion extending downwardly from said horizontal recess portion, said second recess being located'above said first recess and having a downwardly extending recess portion, a curved intermediate recess portion and a downwardly extending recess portion, said sleeve portion being provided with spaced bolt members including a first bolt member engageable in said first recess and a second bolt member engageable in said second recess, all recesses being shaped to permit entry of said bolt members and rotative movement of said first bolt member relative to said second bolt member, and means connected with said bolt members facilitating relative movement of said sleeve portion in respect to the contour of said torso portion.

110. A device according to claim 1, said interengageable means comprising a first lower groove defined on said torso portion having a horizontally extending part extending inwardly from an edge thereof and a transverse part extending across the inner edge of said horizontally extending part in a vertical plane, said torso portion having an upper second groove with a horizontally inwardly extending part extending inwardly from the edge and intermediately upwardly extending part and an inner curved part, said sleeve portion having spaced first and second bolt members, said first bolt member being engageable in said first groove, said second bolt member being engageable in said second groove, said sleeve portion being positionable to permit engagement of the grooves of the bolt members in each of said first and second horizontally extending parts and an inward movement thereof, then an upward movement of said first and second bolt members in their associated grooves and the rotation of the upper bolt member relative to the lower bolt member and then the downward positioning movement of each of said bolt members to lock them in position.

ill. A device according to claim I, said interengageable means in one position facilitating rotation and lateral displacement movements of said sleeve portion in relation to said torso portion and in another position preventing movements of said sleeve portion to said torso portion in predetermined location to each other.

112. A device according to claim I, said interengageable means including adjustable engagement means facilitating variation of the size of one of said interengagement means to another of said interengageable means.

l3. In a garment treatment device for blocking, stretching and drying garments, knitwear and like tubular products; the combination with a portable torso-shaped body portion including neck and shoulder portions and at least one sleeve portion, of garment retaining means associated with at least IOIOZS 0213 one of said portions for maintaining said garment in treatment position on said portions, with interengageable means, respectively, incorporated in said sleeve portion and said torsoshaped body portion and linking said latter portions with each shoulder portions, thereby to facilitate conformation and assembly of said sleeve portion with said shoulder portions whereby the same correspond to and fit the garment contour upon preliminary insertion of said torso-shaped body portion other, and anchoring means coacting with said linking means into said garment for treatment Purposesfor securing said sleeve portion in adjusted position to said 

1. A portable device for tensioning, blocking, drying and like treating garments, such as tubular knit goods in the form of pullover, sweaters, vests and the like; comprising a torso body portion having a neck and shoulder portions determining an outer contour extending from the neck to the shoulder portions and constructed for insertion into the tubular garment to be treated, at least one sleeve portion defined by a contour edge alignable with the contour of one of the shoulder portions and positionable relative to said torso body portion, interengageable means, respectively, joined with said torso portion and with said sleeve portion facilitating adjustable engagement of said sleeve portion with said torso portion, and anchoring means coacting with said interengageable means to ensure selected position of said sleeve portion in relation to said shoulder portion after insertion of all said portions into said tubular garment for the adjusted engagement of said portions thereby to conform said device to the shape of said garment.
 2. A device according to claim 1, including retaining means Incorporated in at least one of the surfaces of said portions for maintaining said garment in supporting condition on said torso portion, said shoulder and sleeve portions.
 3. A device according to claim 1, wherein said retaining means for the garment comprises at least one band having a relatively rough surface adapted to engage the corresponding inner surface of said garment.
 4. A device according to claim 3, wherein said band embraces said torso portion adjacent the lower end thereof.
 5. A device according to claim 3, wherein said band extends around said sleeve portion adjacent one extremity thereof.
 6. A device according to claim 3, wherein said band encircles said sleeve portion adjacent one outer end thereof and is provided with means adapted to frictionally engage and effectuate a firm hold of the garment, and at least one further band extending around said torso portion adjacent the lower end thereof for securing the garment on said portions in treatment position.
 7. A device according to claim 1, said interengageable means comprising a plurality of grooves provided on said torso portion, said sleeve portion being provided with offset bolt means having an enlarged head at one extremity, said bolt means being engageable in respective grooves of said torso portion and being slidable relative thereto to effectuate alignment of the contour of said sleeve portion with the contour of said torso portion.
 8. A device according to claim 7, each of said grooves including a horizontally extending groove portion and a connecting groove portion depending therefrom, said bolt being slidable along said horizontal groove portions and then along said connecting groove portion, and means to lock said bolts and said sleeve portion in respect to said torso portion.
 9. A device according to claim 1, wherein said interengagable means comprises first and second preshaped recesses defined on said torso portion, said first recess including a horizontally extending recess portion and a connecting recess portion extending downwardly from said horizontal recess portion, said second recess being located above said first recess and having a downwardly extending recess portion, a curved intermediate recess portion and a downwardly extending recess portion, said sleeve portion being provided with spaced bolt members including a first bolt member engageable in said first recess and a second bolt member engageable in said second recess, all recesses being shaped to permit entry of said bolt members and rotative movement of said first bolt member relative to said second bolt member, and means connected with said bolt members facilitating relative movement of said sleeve portion in respect to the contour of said torso portion.
 10. A device according to claim 1, said interengageable means comprising a first lower groove defined on said torso portion having a horizontally extending part extending inwardly from an edge thereof and a transverse part extending across the inner edge of said horizontally extending part in a vertical plane, said torso portion having an upper second groove with a horizontally inwardly extending part extending inwardly from the edge and intermediately upwardly extending part and an inner curved part, said sleeve portion having spaced first and second bolt members, said first bolt member being engageable in said first groove, said second bolt member being engageable in said second groove, said sleeve portion being positionable to permit engagement of the grooves of the bolt members in each of said first and second horizontally extending parts and an inward movement thereof, then an upward movement of said first and second bolt members in their associated grooves and the rotation of the upper bolt member relative to the lower bolt member and then the downward positioning movement of each of said bolt members to lock them in position.
 11. A device according to claim 1, said interengageable means in one position facilitating rotation and latEral displacement movements of said sleeve portion in relation to said torso portion and in another position preventing movements of said sleeve portion to said torso portion in predetermined location to each other.
 12. A device according to claim 1, said interengageable means including adjustable engagement means facilitating variation of the size of one of said interengagement means to another of said interengageable means.
 13. In a garment treatment device for blocking, stretching and drying garments, knitwear and like tubular products; the combination with a portable torso-shaped body portion including neck and shoulder portions and at least one sleeve portion, of garment retaining means associated with at least one of said portions for maintaining said garment in treatment position on said portions, with interengageable means, respectively, incorporated in said sleeve portion and said torso-shaped body portion and linking said latter portions with each other, and anchoring means coacting with said linking means for securing said sleeve portion in adjusted position to said shoulder portions, thereby to facilitate conformation and assembly of said sleeve portion with said shoulder portions whereby the same correspond to and fit the garment contour upon preliminary insertion of said torso-shaped body portion into said garment for treatment purposes. 